You’d hope more from conservatives, but nope, human nature is what it is and even folks on our side are susceptible to it.”
I think it would be conceptually correct for us to say that folks who slide into a personality cult are not really conservatives. They may line up right on many/most of the “conservative” policy issue points of the day. But that doesn’t make one a conservative.
A conservative is fundamentally opposed to ideology, and fundamentally opposed to “let’s pretend”. So anything that gives answers before questions are asked...that is usually something that is bordering on ideology, and true conservatives have nothing to do with ideology.
(Of course all that said, that means that there aren’t a LOT of true conservatives out there in the world...and alas that would be true. But America’s Founders certainly were....and they were definitely on the lookout for cults of personality...)
Perhaps. I am not so sure. I think ones politics doesn't define whether they will fall into that particular trap. I know many very smart, intellectually solid conservatives (both men and women) who fall blindly in love with someone who is clearly abusive or an otherwise bad apple - yet they will often refuse to see it for a very long time. With cult of personality like behavior, I think we are dealing more with emotion than logic.
Of course conservatism is an ideology. An ideology is just a collection of ideas, and if you read our Founders and those who have followed in their footsteps, you know that our nation is built on a collection of ideas, hence, an ideology. The difference between us and liberals is that our ideas are better grounded in reality (aka natural law). The left’s grand ideas, focused as they are on creating a utopian equality of circumstance, are pure magical thinking, and can never work. Our grand ideas, like individual rights and freedoms, individual moral duty, individual reward for individual effort, do work in the real world, and produce a better reality than is possible under the delusions of a man-made utopia.
But we cannot elect grand ideas to political office. We are a nation that believes in rewarding exceptional individuals for exceptional contributions, and in politics we do that through elections. So why should it be so strange that someone like Sarah Palin, who had indeed demonstrated extraordinary giftedness at political leadership, should be the focus of conservative attention? There is a job to fill, and many of us believe she is exactly the right person to fill it. That is not a cult of personality. That’s just common sense in hiring the next President.
I’d hope that human nature would include enough respect for their fellow man to not come into their conversation (or thread as it may be) and insult them. Supposedly we’re NOT conservative, shouldn’t have an ideology (but evidently do, according to you & that’s a bad thing), that we aren’t living in reality (”let’s pretend”) as if we all don’t know she might not run...though I think she will. We’re well aware that we’ll coalesce around another candidate...but it’s the same for most of us because only one person will get the nomination. Depending on how things shake out some of us will have thrown our support behind more than one candidate.
If you’re going to decide who is a conservative and who isn’t and insult those who don’t fit into whatever definition you’ve chosen can you do it elsewhere? It’s legitimate to discuss reasons you think she may/may not be running and even her policy positions but it serves no purpose to come on a thread of supporters (whether you think they’re “cultists” or not) and carry on a conversation that basically expresses how wrong they are, how they can’t possibly have conservative values, and how much better you are (if you don’t think that’s the message you’re giving reread your post.)
It’s getting to the point where I cringe when I come here every morning to see what’s going on in the country, including news about candidates and others who may/may not jump in because I know I’m going to scroll down and read a bunch of insults. Granted, I could decide not to read the comments but often people provide a wealth of information (about myriad topics) in the posts including links to other resources. A little rivalry between supporters makes primary season fun, this constant barrage is just downright arrogant.
Cindie